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CU-Boulder students design, build hut for New Mexico retreat center

Environmental design seniors getting a taste of entire building process

By Sarah Kuta

Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
06/27/2014 06:16:06 PM MDT

CJ Badenhausen and other University of Colorado environmental design students work on a hut for the Lama Foundation in New Mexico. (Courtesy photo)

Eleven environmental design students from the University of Colorado are in New Mexico this month building a sustainable, 120-square-foot hut they designed and modeled last semester for a nonprofit retreat center.

Taught by instructor Jade Polizzi, the class has been experiencing the entire construction and design process with help from the Lama Foundation, a spiritual and educational community center outside of Taos, N.M. The center is designed to be a place for all faiths, including Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Native American religions, according to its website.

"The students get to do everything," Polizzi said. "Pour the foundation, build a deck, frame the walls, build the furniture that goes inside."

CU students started planning for the trip in January when they each created potential designs for the hut, a basic temporary residence for people visiting the center.

They traveled to New Mexico twice during the spring semester to meet with their "client," Lama Foundation, and to get to know the community their design would serve. It's the second time Polizzi and CU students have worked with the foundation on a hut.

In the end, the simplistic structure will contain a queen-size bed, some cabinets, shelves, hooks and a few chairs. It won't have plumbing or heating, and it will use solar panels for energy.

The start-to-finish design and construction timeline gives the students, all seniors, a completed "job" to add to their resumes, Polizzi said.

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"They definitely learn to work with a client," she said. "They design. They learn construction skills. They're learning how small changes in the design can affect the construction of the project. They also learn about building on a budget and on schedule."

For senior Tyler Raab, 22, the construction component of the project has been surprisingly helpful for thinking about design.

Scott Ehrlich, a University of Colorado environmental design senior, works to build a 120-square-foot hut for the Lama Foundation outside of Taos, New Mexico. (Courtesy photo)

"In design it might look great, but in practice or real life it doesn't always work out," he said. "You have to adapt on your feet. It really does provide the insight going back to designing."

The project also forces students to consider the elevation, weather patterns and natural habitat around a structure. The Lama Foundation sits at roughly 8,600 feet, which means extreme cold, extreme heat and harsh winds. The foundation also asked the students to build a completely sealed, rodent-proof structure.

The students also tailored the design of the hut to reflect the foundation's values, Polizzi said. Using prayer flags made by the foundation as inspiration, the students will create a large art piece for the hut.

The organization, which pays for building materials, saves on labor costs. More important, Lama Foundation leaders said they feel they are fostering a community through the building process and are proud to be the new owners of a one-of-a-kind, environmentally friendly hut.

The students paid tuition for Polizzi's class, and CU and some fundraising efforts paid for travel expenses.

The 11 students have been participating in foundation events and rituals, including spiritual gatherings each morning "where we check in with people, and people share how they're feeling," said Lama Foundation coordinator Sebastian Robins. They're sleeping in tents on the foundation grounds, rather than staying in a hotel, he said.

"We're an intentional community, and we do a lot of things that are very community-based here basically everyday," Robins said. "I wouldn't have done it if it was just a group of people coming and building this thing and leaving."

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